[Fsf-friends] Free Software: What does freedom really mean... to whom?

Frederick Noronha fred@bytesforall.org
Tue, 12 Nov 2002 13:12:42 +0530 (IST)


I was in touch with these people in the past. Can Free Software advocates
also help them? FN

On 12 Nov 2002, Khuzaima A. Lakdawala wrote:


> http://india.indymedia.org/
> 
> http://india.indymedia.org/about.php3
> 
> About Us
> 
> What is the IMC Movement ?
> 
> The Independent Media Center (IMC) websites is a global network of
> collectively run media outlets. The people involved in helping run
> these websites are self-styled media activists who share a commitment
> to facilitating a culture in which people no longer see themselves as
> passive consumers of 'news' and 'analyses' that are produced and
> suitably packaged for mass consumption by media corporations (private
> or State-run).
> 
> For more information about how the history of the indymedia.org sites,
> please see the follow this link: http://www.indymedia.org/about.php3.
> 
> Why India-IMC ?
> 
> The need for for a new culture with respect to media reporting of news
> and analyses is, perhaps, greatest in the Indian sub-continent, and
> other parts of the world that despite the end of overt colonialism
> continue to be beset by the colonial mindset, and the absence of
> transparency or accountability.  For getting an overview of the sorry
> state of the media in India, you may want to read an excellent article
> by P. Sainath (a freelance journalist, and author of "Everybody Loves
> a Good Drought) at the following site:
> http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_06/uk/medias.htm
> 
> More About the India-IMC:
> 
> This India IMC site is being maintained in the interest of helping
> create a network and culture of independent media reporting in the
> Indian sub-continent. A small set of people, who all share a deep
> commitment to the Independent media collective movement have come
> together to help get this site going. We are hopeful, that as more
> people begin to post news items on this site, it wil help spawn other
> similar sites in various cities, towns and districts/states/provinces
> of South Asia.  The overall format of the indymedia.org sites is very
> open. In keeping with the general format of all the indymedia.org
> sites, there is a 'FEATURES' column which has to be maintained by an
> editorial team; and there is a 'NEWSWIRE' column to which anyone can
> contribute news/analysis items with text or multimedia content.
> 
> 
> On Mon, 11 Nov 2002 23:25:31 +0530 (IST), Frederick Noronha <fred@bytesforall.org> wrote:
> 
> > In Goa we already have one. See 
> > http://www.freenewsgoa.net
> > If someone could support us on the technical side (PostNuke setups,
> > webspace), we could surely think of doing this at a wider/national level.
> > FN
> > 
> > On 11 Nov 2002, V. Sasi Kumar wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > > On Sun, 2002-11-10 at 15:26, Frederick Noronha wrote:
> > > 
> > > > On another issue, I think that the ideals of Free Software need to be
> > > > extended to other fields too (including journalism, where the money has
> > > > become good in recent years in countries like India but increasingly
> > > > journalists are feeling choked by their inability to express themselves
> > > > freely). 
> > >  
> > > Do you think we could plan a web site where journalists could freely
> > > express themselves? Or does some such thing already exist? Perhaps we
> > > could also give regular daily news, if there are enough journalists
> > > willing to support it.
> > > 
> > > V. Sasi Kumar
>